Pound fishing system



Nov. 13, 1951 T. P. DUNCAN, JR` 2,575,050

POUND FISHING SYSTEM Filed oct. 7, 1947 2 sHEETs-sHEET 1 JNVENTOR. Thama's j? uncafl;9 iff' Fl 740 T776!! Nov. 13, 1951 T. P. DUNCAN, JR 2,575,050

POUND FISHING SYSTEM Filed OCT'. 7, 1947 n Y 2 SHEETS-fSHEET 2 Patented Nov. 13, 1,951

f UfNirE-:fo STATES fPArfsNT f ifoffFFlcE 3.Clai`ms. ..1 This invention 'relates tof-arpoundshing system.

'Itf'isean object-of -this inventionV to vprovide an improved-iishing system having a centralpound or-enclosed net` withentranceopenings =on oppesite-rsides thereofthrough whieh -the Lish may enter, and having. putwardlyfextending nets `Vfor guiding the Aiish towardn the *pound or' central enclosed net.

Another `obeet'of` thisinvention-z is to provide a pound'lshing Asystem -of 'the kind vto be --more particularly-described hereinafter having lights supported'aboveethe-entrance 4cones of Vthe Acentrat-'net or pound.

"Another-object offthis finvention is to provide aii'shing-systemvof this kindfhaving -a landside net inhalignment Ywith' anopeningbetween a pair of fthe# ex'tended `V nets and l in alignment lwith an entr-ance'opening toi the ycer'1tr'al--=net f for directing the sh on the landside of the net Jtoward -an entrance.

A further object of this invention is to provide a device oi thisf-kindtrhaving lights vfor directing and luring the sh into ther central net anda generator prcentral lightingsystem`-forthe lights supported in a buoyant body having' a sh bait or chum dispensertherein.

With the above and otherlobl'ects in view, my inventionvconsists in the arrangement, combination and details of constructiondisclosediin'the drawingsand specicationf and then more;.;par ticularlypointed out in the appended cla-ims.

q-Eigure lis-a view in perspective-andfof'lavdiagrammatic nature illustrating a pound iishing system in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; and

Figure 2 is a top plan view on an enlarged scale of the rectangular net structure and parts therein.

Figure 3 is a View in transverse section taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Figure 2, the conical entrance elements being in elevation.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral I designates. generally a central net or pound supported by a plurality of posts I I which penetrate the ground below the surface of the water for supporting the net therefrom.

The poles II are arranged in substantially rectangular disposition for supporting the rectangular net IIJ thereon. The net I0 is formed with downwardly inclined outer or peripheral net walls I2 which are secured at their upper ends to the poles l I.

2 A-'iloor net-I4 is Vprovidedfor engagementrw-ith the Ilower l endl of f the downwardly inclined f net walls I2 for closing the net I-Ulat-theibottom thereof. `Entrancenetcones t5 are "provided interme- -diatevthe lengthof each of the side nets I.2^and `are disposed along the verticalflength thereof.

The conical nets YI5 are open-at theitwoends thereof and each opens at its `largerfend through a vnet` wall |12 #and extends inwardly; the smaller inner end opening into the area enclosed fbyfthe walls I2. AllightiI- is supported above the -water level-along the length off each o'the sidefnetcwalls I2 for luringlthesh into thefnetVv I0. `The`fli`ghts I6 are of the beam type and are provided-for-casting a beam along the surface of the iwaterfisubstantially radially of the net Il), being iii-'alignment IWithi'thle-center theref.

'The lights I'B fare'located directlywover-'each of -the conical nets.' or .'entrancecones I5. 4ra diallyextendingiline ofi poles I3 is arranged" from the'corners'of the `v:net l' extending outwardly therefrom. A-ra'dially extending Anet I'Ifl `is sup portedV byy the poles :lf3 outwardly of the net .I and ai -pairof arcuate bowed-nets `Ir8 arey connectedf-to the fextremeouter Send of the. net IV'I forming a pair-ofA reverselycurved nets -spacedizoutwardly fromithecentralhnet or pound I0.

The :nets ltzare Vsupporte'dlby polesA I 3suitably arranged 4for securing fthe nets in `the `desired position. As shown 'in the'drawings, fthearcuiate-nets t-landadjacent radiallyy extending nets I-'Iv terminate iinA spacedV relation and the edsrof the arcuate netsnare directed in convergent relatiorrtoward-thenearestconeswl.

""The space@Ixlbetween .the `ends `:of iadjacent arcuate :fne'ts *aI "fbeing `in alignment lwith fthe entrance cone I5 of a side of the net or pound III provides an outer entrance for the fishing net arrangement.

When the sh have been lured by the light I6 toward the pound I0 they will rst be lured through the opening I9 between the nets II and I8 on opposite corners of the pound. The sh then will be urged by the converging net walls II toward the walls I2 and will find their way into the pound area enclosed by the wall I2 through theinwardly tapering cones I5.

For leading the iish on the landside of the pound IQ toward an entrance opening of the central net, there is provided a landside net 2D secured on poles or rod 2| extending radially from the center of the pound I toward the land and shallow Water.

The landside net 26 is disposed in a straight line and extends through an opening I9 between a pair of arcuate nets I8 on one side of the pound. A generator for the lighting system is supported in a buoyant body 22 which is particularly i1- lustrated and described in my co-pending application Serial No. 778,387, led October 7, 1947, which buoyant body is fastened by flexible lines 24 to a pair of poles 25 and 26 in aligement with the landside net 20. The pole 25 may form a part of the supporting means for the landside net.

With a netarrangement orl pound shing system ofy the kind described above, the fish are lured toward a central pound or net I by the rays of the lights I6 striking the water radially of the net I0 in alignment with theV central net openings I and with the opening o r passage I9 between a pair of arcuate nets I 8.

' scribed comprising a plurality of rows of stakes The lights I6 are disposed on all four sides of l the central net or pound I0 above a conical entrance opening or trap I5 on each side of the pound. The sh are initially lured in through the passage I9. Because of the fact that the cones I5 are substantially restricted in area, certain of the sh may turn around to flee from the trap and normally will leave the rays of light at an angle, and they will thus be directed into the confines of the nets I'I and I8 which extend radially outward from the corners of the net I0 and are shaped as a hook for leading the `iis-li back towards the entrance opening I5 of the central net. Y

I do not mean to confine myself to the exact details of construction herein disclosed but claim all variations falling within the purview of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A pound fishing system comprising a hanging net enclosing a trap area, a frusto-conical entrance trap opening through the net between the top and bottom edges thereof, outwardly extending nets on said corner of said lrst mentioned net substantially radial to the center thereof, oppositely disposed segmental arcuate nets on the end of each of said radial nets, the space between certain of the adjacent arcuate nets being substantially radially aligned with said entrance cones, and a light carried by said rst mentioned net above each of said entrance cones for attracting fish between said last referred to arcuate nets into the entrance cones.

2. A pound fishing system comprising a hanging net enclosing a trap area, a frusto-conical entrance trap opening through each of a number of sides of said net intermediate the height thereof, outwardly extending nets on each of a number of corners of said net substantially radial to the arranged to define an area of polygonal outline having a plurality of corners, a hanging net suspended from said stakes to form a completely enclosed area and providing a plurality of walls,

each wall parallelin'g a row of stakes, a plurality of frusto-conical net cones open at both ends, each of said walls having one of said cones attached thereto, the said cone being attached'to said Wall at its larger end and opening through the wall, each of said cones extending inwardly from the attached wall toward the center of the area, a bottom net connected with the bottom edge of the rst mentioned net, a plurality of long nets each extending outwardly from a corner of the area defined by said rows of stakes, two substantially semi-circular nets at the outer end of each of said long nets, each two semi-circular nets having twojoined ends connected with the outer end of the adjacent long net, the outer ends of each two semi-circular nets being extended inwardly toward a row of said stakes and spaced from a corresponding end of an adjacent 'semicircular net to form an entrance passageway leading toward the larger end of one of said frustocorneal net cones, and an illuminating means disposed directly above the said larger end of each of the frusto-conical net cones and directed outwardly through a passageway between two semicircular nets.

THOMAS P. DUNCAN, J n.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 34,887 Goodwin Apr. 8, 1862 137,930 Ketcham Apr. 15, 1873 455,758 AMoulsong July 14, 1891 1,489,917 Bleeker Apr. 8, 1924 1,684,564 Toppe Sept. 18, 1928 

